About Our Team

Team Overview:

The Texas Tech Equestrian Team is open to any undergraduate student, regardless of major or classification who wants to ride and compete on a collegiate level. The IHSA promotes competition for riders of all skill levels, who compete individually and as teams at regional, zone, and national levels. The association was founded in 1967 on the principal that any college student should be able to participate in horse shows regardless of his or her financial status or riding level.

"Catch Riding" is what makes the IHSA format different and more difficult than any other. Each rider in a class draws a horse out of a hat, and with no warm up goes into the show ring to compete for individual & team points. Riders are allowed to watch the horses warm up before the show begins, but do not take control of the horse until they are being judged on the rail, over fences, in a reining pattern, or in a horsemanship pattern.

Hunt Seat (English):There are 3 Equitation Over Fences levels, and 5 Equitation On the Flat levels, for a total of 8 English classes offered at each show. There are currently 6,499 IHSA Hunt Seat riders nation wide. For the '15-'16 show season, Texas Tech was Region Championship Team out of the Zone 7, Region 2.

Stock Seat (Western):There is 1 level of Reining, and 5 levels of Horsemanship, for a total of 6 Western classes offered at each show. There are currently 1,888 IHSA Western riders nation wide. For the '15-'16 Show Season, Texas Tech finished 3rd in the Zone 7, Region 2.

Show Team • Home TeamThe TTET has a show team, and a home team. The show team is the group who are ready to show in IHSA shows and who travel with the team. The home team are members who are not ready to show, but are working toward improving their horsemanship & equation skills at practice.After tryouts, the coaches will decided who will be on the show teams for the first show. If a rider does not make this first show team, they will have the opportunity to move up when the coaches feel they are ready to show, or when a spot opens up in their division. We believe that attitude is everything and we do not allow members with a bad attitudes to show, no matter how skilled a rider they are.

Membership RequirementsEach member is required to attend weekly team practice. Riders wishing to show in an Over Fences division or Reining are required to take one outside lesson per week in addition to team practice. All freshman students, and any member with a GPA of 2.5 or lower must attend monitored weekly study hall. Each rider must pass a fitness evaluation before they will be allowed to show and all student are required to attend team workouts. New Member dues are $350/semester*, and Veteran Member dues are $350/ semester*. Each member also has to buy an annual membership to IHSA which is a one time fee of $35-40/ show season*. Members must bring in $500 worth of sponsorships to the team each semester to help pay for travel costs*. Show team members also pay their own entry fees which is $25-30 per class*. The team pays for gas, rental cars, hotel costs, on trips to shows with the money brought in by sponsors and from the Student Government Association. (* information is subject to change every show season. The above info will give a general idea of what prospective members should expect.)

Tryout Info for Prospective MembersNo matter if you are a current student, transfer student, or incoming freshman, we would love to have you on our team. Tryouts are traditionally held during the second week of classes in the Fall semester. The first thing you need to do is send the officers an email under the "Contact Us" tab to tell them you are interested in joining the team. They will add you to our email list and this will help you know when tryout will be. Next, find us on Facebook and become a fan of our page. This page will keep you up to date on what is going on with the team. Third, practice what you already know & remember to stay open minded.

We will be looking for a classical & effective seat and leg position in both styles of riding. Western riders will be asked to memorize a basic horsemanship pattern to perform during tryouts. English riders may be asked to perform an equitation test as it is called out to them, and may also be tested over fences if they qualify for a fence division. We suggest that before tryouts, ride every different kind of horse you can because diversity is key when it comes to being a good catch rider. You will need to be comfortable on as many different horses as possible.

Tryout Attire: Western riders should try out in jeans and a tucked in collared shirt with a belt and boots. Hair should be pulled back and neatly out of the way. English riders should wear breeches, tall boots or half chaps with paddock boots, a collared shirt tucked in with belt, & helmet with hair up in a hairnet or in a neat pony tail.

If you don't have any riding experience that is ok too. We do suggest for anyone who is new to riding to take the "Horsemanship" class that is offered through the Animal Science department. This class will give you a good foundation to start with.